Xibalba

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

The black creature guffawed and circled around the brat, cackling at him as if he were a dumb baby.

"KHAHAHA! You simple-minded carbon-based small-fry! This is why this world's denizens just crack me up. Do you seriously think that this schmuck's death means the end of us!? He's nothing more than an expendable anchor." He perched on one of the spider's limbs with the smuggest of grins. "If he croaks we'll just return to [THE OTHER SIDE] whence we-"

The anchor quite literally blew up the creature with a glare.

                  _{Don't disrespect a friend, noisy bird.}
"____________________________" His smile took a weary quality, and he just nodded weakly to Joseph, dragging himself closer.

"Geheheheh. You damn... idiot... that...hurts... even if it's just me, this is too much..." And thus, Zeke's mouth flapped its wings one last time, only to gradually evaporate in chunks like everything else. Slowly. Decisively.

A hivemind that was many. One that formed a hivemind. But the truth was, this was a much more disturbing scene if you considered a simple fact. A possibility that only a broken human could glimpse at.

Dissociative Identity Disorder. A state of mind typically caused by an intense disturbance, where a single mind forms many different entities in order to shield itself from trauma. But what could break such a being to this point?

Did either Joseph or Zeke even care? At least for the latter, it definitely wasn't the case. Even when dying, his mind was as warped as ever. A black sun that'd burn anything in its vicinity to get to something, even if it had to burn itself. Now utterly mute, he could only talk though direct signals - sparks and jolts sent through paths.

Looks like I've pushed this 'me' too far. Whatever, 'we' had a good run... sure, use whatever you can get until you bleed it dry pal. But don't forget your promise. I want to test this theory myself.

Zeke's eye pulsated, staring at the man he brought along. Sorry, but you'll have to experience that hell too. But if you make it, you won't have to feel the loneliness of weakness anymore. We'll fight this destiny together.

It was a logic similar to old heroes. When pushed to their limit, when broken beyond fighting, you entrust to the next in line. Ideals, memories, teachings, they are all memes that spread from person to person.

This... was Zeke's meme.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

The lab creature twitched and moved forward, latching onto the two and raising them up. "You want to do a transfer? The siphon might work... although if it fails your liquefied soul being completely vaporized would be interesting data too. Alright, I'll transfer you right away!" Then the three of them were all dragged away into the depths of the lab. Joseph didn't much have time to fully analyze the degradation of Zeke's body, but for the purposes of this he didn't really need to either. The extraction machine looked much like a knife, but when the monster's tendril jabbed it into Zeke only the darkness inside guttered out. There was no wound in the flesh. Instead, the vial in the hilt of the blade began to fill with a viscous dark fluid. Only once Zeke decayed entirely was the vessel full.

Then it was just Joseph and the other one. The mage's touch kept the creature alive, stable enough that he wouldn't be able to do anything. Well, other than see the vats that were sitting in front of him. Several of the organisms that Joseph had tempted to cultivate from Zeke's flesh floated lifelessly within, stillborn. But there was one thing that didn't belong. A perfectly round sphere of the purest white. And then its eyes began to open. Lidless eyes that shone with light blossoming all over its surface, brightening the dark room. Tendrils emerged from it like roots, pressing against the glass. "Since Zeke is asleep now, I think you should know about the surprise. Our guest and I have had a lot to talk about! It seems like you'll all be compatible enough that the mix shouldn't have too many errors, but there's no accounting for certain variables. Although, I did think it would be too easy for Zeke to simply have his way. This thing has lots of research potential too, and it's already let me take a few cuttings first. So I'll let it go first. Zeke will come in after. That's only fair, right? Living things are in competition all the time."

The top of the vat opened and the sphere rose up. Then it entangled itself, roots plunging into the prone body as it greedily wormed its way further in. And before it could assert total control... Joseph injected the vial into the twitching body. "That's enough of a head start. Now do your best, Zeke. I'm sure you'll provide even better data if you win than if I just gave you this body."

 

[Kotomine_Rin]

? ? ? ? ?

C-cold! The stab felt cold. It wasn't the way he usually did it, but Zeke himself was curious to see the difference between an amateur and the real deal. Seeing Joseph work his way through the depths of his spirit, he felt his reason...his memories... his everything being ripped away from that sorry shell.

Kuhuhuh... it's a shame... a damn shame... heheh...

Zeke didn't speak any longer. To begin with, he couldn't. But the one who uttered these words was none other than the one who housed this shade inside him all this time. In its final moments, it smiled melancholically.
Was it regret? Or sadness, that even this dream had to come to an end, and the dreamer wake once more.

"If possible... I wanted to see the new world with my own eyes."

The top of the vat opened and the sphere rose up. Then it entangled itself, roots plunging into the prone body as it greedily wormed its way further in. And before it could assert total control... Joseph injected the vial into the twitching body. "That's enough of a head start. Now do your best, Zeke. I'm sure you'll provide even better data if you win than if I just gave you this body."

? ? ? ? ?

"Where... am I...?" A shade awakened in a strange place, a desert of time where shards and paths interconnected and entangled. It was a sight he had seen before, just like back then. The primordial sea... the collective unconscious. This meant that he must be inside that man's soul. "...Right." He had seen it before, but what was usually a copying process was now a genuine transfer. He struggled to get up, feeling the heavy air of this unnatural world. An eternal twilight, crowned by unnatural auroras, coalescing into the World Tree itself. Compared to his imitation, this was a lot more beautiful. And a lot direr. Death here meant utter erasure, not just from existence, but collective memory itself.

But 'Zeke' smiled.

"I must be experiencing it through that man's eyes. Amazing. So this is a human's resilience. No... could it be... has he awakened as well?" He crouched on one knee, and let this land's sands slip through his fingers. This wasn't unusual, for other humans to be contacted by the will of the world. He wondered if they shared the same wish, as fellow chosen?

Before he could ponder on that some more, he heard a crashing of waves. Before he could even look back, the skies began to crack and fall - as white tendrils of sickly white light began to crawl into this world. Eyes began to appear, pouring down aetherial tears. These holy feathers, this fake light. It could only mean...

Even now, you're still in my way. Aruna.

"Heh. I should have known that brat would try something like that. This must be a test." The empty shade finally managed to get up, wiping the sand off his body with the biggest grin he ever mustered. A remnant from that tower, huh? Just like him, nothing more than a shadow of some old ambition. But you know, he just wanted to voyage and enjoy this world to the fullest. To squeeze every pleasure and experience possible. To never have to fear the pain of loneliness again. He wouldn't act like it was some lofty holier than thou mission, but it was his dream nonetheless.

He just wanted to live. To live without fear.

And even if God's Grace was in the way of that, he'd laugh, spit and trample on it with the least dignified of expressions. To struggle pathetically was the only way he knew to live. That's why he clenched his fist before the angelic swarm and chuckled. "If you lose, that just means your lofty dreams are worth less than mine. FINE, OLD MAN!! LET'S HAVE A DREAM BATTLE!! YOUR GRACES, OR MY DARKNESS!?"

The holy tendrils shot to crash down on him. His fist shot up at the heavens to rip them from their throne.

"LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"


? ? ? ? ?

So... a clone, huh? Not the weirdest thing around here. Heh. You've worked hard enough, kid. Welcome to the police force. We'll make sure to take good care of you.

That's just bullshit. You guys were the first to die. We couldn't do anything against that monster.

Why so gloom? Didn't you always want to be a cop?

I'm not like you bastards. I have no intention of throwing my life away for some lofty dream.

Why I joined? Hmmm... I guess I wanted to follow someone.

I don't care what side I join. As long as I come out safe, I couldn't care less.

...I...love...you...

So why... why does my heart... you idiots...

Live.

As two utterly alien forces fought inside his body, every blood vessel, every pore, every inch of his mind body and soul screamed in utter agony. His eyes shot up, his limbs shook to the point they started to tear against the restraints, and every muscle contracted and jolted again and again.

Each impact came stronger than the last.

Each forbidden knowledge, each memory was like an ocean, eroding his nerves to nothing.

But he refused.

Even if he had to betray his comrades, he wanted to live more than anyone. He'd trample over any obstacle to make that happen. Even if that was someone else's dream. The human's mouth foamed, his flesh screamed. The body fell, the mind succumbed - yet his heart wouldn't fall.

I won't die. I won't die! I'm not going to die here like a dog, no matter what!!

This struggle, this battle, it wasn't just a sick show. As every holy word, every filthy curse, every hope and dream from the past clashed against a man's future, the screams cracked throughout the entire tower. Not just to deliver them from pain, but to roar at fate itself. To declare this fight.

The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit. Which one would come out on top? As this battle stretched for hours, soon, Joseph would find his answer. Even if it meant utterly burning Zeke - no, all three of their senses of self.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Joseph

A variety of recording instruments probed at the thrashing body, keeping accurate information even up until the point that he smashed them. Joseph had in the meantime acquired a juice box as the information was inscribed down onto the pages of his research journal. The information dripped down and splashed onto the surface as words. "Interesting. Good work, Zeke!" He called out from a secure area within the lab. And then he continued to sip from the straw.

[Kotomine_Rin]

? ? ? ?

The man... the body that was being overtaken trashed and convulsed on the ground, his muscles rippling and crushing him from the inside out. And as it finally slammed the back of its head on the ground one last time, its veins glowed like lightsticks - and bright beams blew from his eyes and mouth.

And then there was stillness. Silence.

Zeke died. But in its final moments, it entrusted the future to the next generation. That's why, even as it crumbled and turned to nothing, the vessel looked at the result of the fusion with a proud smile, and turned to dust.

"Congratulations. You are the last 'me'. Let 'us' journey to our future..."

And for the first time, 'they' opened 'their' eyes. Naked, broken, but rising. Moving forward. Always moving. But something was wrong. Something failed.




The man gasped, covered in wounds and torn ligaments. He just barely managed to get up by clutching at a table. And yet, panting out of breath, his eyes darted in confusion around him.

"Where...are we...?"